NaturalKachi

As Academic Affairs and Research Minister, I had the privilege of organizing the Carnegie Mellon University Africa Research Showcase. It was a high-pressure, high-reward experience that brought together the best of our student and alumni talent.

Deep thanks to my co-chairs Grace Kaimburi, Matewos Tegete, and Athanase BAHIZIRE, our keynote Samuel Rutunda, and our alumni speakers Mona Aman, Yohannes Tadesse H., and Alex Gichamba.

From 15+ poster presentations to the 3-minute oral competitions, the level of excellence was unmatched. Stressful? Definitely. Rewarding? Absolutely.

Congratulations to all the winners! 🏆

Privileged to have delivered the Keynote speech at the Women In Engineering IWD event at the University of Rwanda this weekend to undergraduate girls in 1st and 2nd year.

Looking back and realizing I was in their shoes almost 10 years ago and seeing how much my life has evolved made me so proud of myself and the community that has gotten me to where I am.

The panel with my girls Deb, Yacoco, Wura, and Tracy was wholesome.

I yapped about how social media particularly my YouTube channel was my escape route out of undiagnosed anxiety and how my community pushed me further than I could have pushed myself.

I reiterated that real privilege is in having options and Engineering has given me options.
Also, having the privilege to study engineering is a huge privilege that should never be taken for granted.

Women fought for us to go to school, women are still fighting for us to have equal access and opportunities, we must never take it for granted.

Thank you

I cannot complain about having so much on my plate when I came here to eat

Week 1:
✅Had the most meetings I've had in about 1 year all in 1 week.
✅Moderated a panel session for the Africa Innovator Society club.
✅Resumed my RA job.
✅Gave a quick presentation on my NeurIPS journey.
✅Organized my first event as Academic and Research Minister (Postcards from the Frontline)
🙏🏽Thank you Lord for keeping things running smoothly.

One month ago, I presented my research at the Women in Machine Learning workshop at NeurIPS in San Diego. It was my first time ever leaving Africa, a milestone that almost didn't happen.

Two weeks before that, I was staring at my first U.S. visa denial letter. Devastated, obviously, my friends started praying for me because I reapplied immediately after I was denied the first time. Thank you, Jesus.

On that NeurIPS poster session floor, I presented research born from a project close to my heart: building the first publicly available audio dataset for the Ehugbo dialect, in collaboration with Lanfrica Labs / Naija Voices.

Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that work aimed at preserving and empowering low-resource languages would lead me to a global Al stage.

This was more than a presentation; it was a full-circle moment. A testament to what's possible when we build foundational resources for underserved communities and dare to share them with the world.

I am forever grateful:

To my brilliant co-authors Victor Olufemi and Eze-Mbey Uloma because this was truly a team effort.

To my professor, Mikel K. Ngueajio, who encouraged me to aim to apply to the main conference in the US.

To everyone who prayed for me for real (Stephen David and Peter Adeyemo especially)

To Women in Machine Learning for always, always putting women at the forefront of Al and ML.

To Carnegie Mellon University Africa for making sure things worked smoothly throughout our stay in the US.

It is barely my first year as a researcher, and I presented my work at NeurIPS. This year, we go harder.